Heat Pump basics: heating and cooling the house

Geothermal heat pumps are energy efficient heating and cooling devices. They use relatively small electricity and produce fewer emissions than furnaces or conventional air conditioning systems. And they are a tested technology, quickly increasing their market share. Even geothermal heat pumps - the least known type of heat pumps - reach the millions installed units worldwide (more than 600,000, just in the United States).

Heat pumps aren't just heating devices. Split heat pumps are mainly used for cooling and recent models also provide water heating (in mild and warm climates). Heal pumps are an interesting alternative to central air conditioning. See Heat Pumps vs Central Air Conditioning.


Heat pumps recent technological advances

Early heat pumps were noisy and failed to provide the required warmth to our homes on very cold days. But recent technological advances have created a new generation of reliable and energy-efficient heat pump systems, and ground heat pump systems may overcome air source systems limitations.

For more information on new heat pump features, see: New heat pumps
See also: Environment and Heat Pumps


What are heat pumps? How do they work?

Heat pumps use a technology very similar to that of refrigerators. In summer they pull the heat out of our homes, releasing it outside. In cold weather, they simply reverse the process, pumping heat into our homes.

Since heat pumps technology emulates that of refrigerators, that means that heat pumps use electricity. With one big advantage relatively to other technologies for cooling and heating: the relation between the energy the heat pumps use and the one it produces is a 1 to 3, a 1 to 4, a 1 to 5 or even more, which puts heat pumps technology in a clearly advantageous situation relatively to central air conditioning and other more conventional technologies.

Types of heat pumps

There are two main types of heat pumps:

- air-source heat pumps (they extract heat from the outdoor air, even when that air is close to negative temperatures);
- ground-source heat pumps (they extract the natural heat storage capacity of the ground, rock, or ground water);

And several variants: water and rock heat pumps, split-systems (ductless systems), packaged systems...

New systems include:
Absorption heat pumps (gas-fired)
Heat Pumps Water Heaters

See, for more information: Heat Pumps Types and Parts


Suitability

To know if a heat pump is the right solution to your home, you must take into account several elements: your home's needs and consumption, your climate and the existence of natural gas as an option in your area.

See, for details:
Is a heat pump a suitable solution for your home?


Air-source heat pumps

Air source heat pumps is the commonest type of heat pumps, but they are rather unsuitable for climates with an high number of days with temperatures below 30ºF/0ºF. To overcome that limitation, you should bet on particularly efficient heat-pumps, namely Ground (geothermal) source heat pumps.

See also:
Heat Pumps vs Furnaces and Air-Conditioning
New heat pumps features



Mini split heat pumps

If your home doesn’t have ducts, there is a good solution involving a ductless version of air-source heat pumps: the mini-split heat pump system.

See: Mini split heat pumps systems


Efficiency & heat pumps

Heat pumps can be much more efficient than furnaces and air conditioners (see Heat Pumps vs. Other Heating Systems  and Heat Pumps vs Air Conditioning. But heat pumps performance may vary significantly. Eco-labelling (in Europe) and Energy Star accreditation, associated with the SEER and HSPF ratings are key elements when shopping.

See:
Heat Pumps Efficiency and Heat Pumps Rating
New heat pumps features


Heat pump prices

Geothermal heat pumps may cost you nearly twice the price of air-source heat pumps.

See:
Heat pump prices
Heat Pump State Incentives

Which are the technologies available?

See:
New heat pumps features
Heat Pumps and water heating.
Heat Pumps vs Furnaces and Air-Conditioning


Lifetime and guarantees

The different parts of heat pumps have different lifetimes and guarantees.

See, for tips: Heat Pumps Problems and Troubleshooting


Heat Pumps Manufacturers

The technology used in air source heat pumps is largely the same of refrigerators and air conditioners, and the major manufacturers are also the same.

See, for more details: Heat Pumps Manufacturers and Associations


Heat pump maintenance, problems and troubleshooting

See: Heat pumbs problems and troubleshooting


The payback of Heat Pumps systems

The payback period for ground-source heat pumps is often 7-8 years, while for air-source heat pumps that recovery may involve 4 to 5 years. But these are just references, very dependent on the energy source costs. 

See, for details: Costs and Payback of Heat Pumps Systems

 

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